


Blue Skye Rising #1: "Politics for Fun & Profit"

by Marc_Quill



Series: Marc Quill's Blue Skye Rising [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Adventure, Conspiracy Thriller, M/M, Superpowers, superhero
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 12:10:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13099815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marc_Quill/pseuds/Marc_Quill
Summary: For Skye Emery, a hero’s work is never done. Now serving Toronto as its first-ever superhero, her fight truly begins after toppling SDI and its Project Singularity super-soldier program. This time, the adventure takes our superpowered heroine beyond borders as an insidious conspiracy sets its eyes in continuing SDI’s work in bringing Project Singularity back for their own purposes. Led by American industrialist Jackie Quincannon, the shadow group only known as “The Conglomerate” will stop at nothing until all its mysterious goals are achieved.Luckily, Skye has her ever-loyal adopted sister Ava Lorenz by her side. Born with the power to control a near-limitless supply of energy, Ava is learning to get her feet wet while aiding Skye in her fight against new enemies.Meanwhile, Finch Finwick, Skye’s best friend and ally, has things to deal with on his own as he prepares to marry his hockey-playing boyfriend Stephen O’Day. With the next big step of his life awaiting him, will Finn still have time to juggle both being with his one true love and helping Skye fight crime?





	1. Chapter I

** Prologue -- Ambition That Kills **

**_ Providence Health Complex, Chicago, IL -- August 13th, 1990 _ **

Progress.

That seemed to be the only thing on the mind of Jacqueline Quincannon as she watched silently over the comatose and withering body of her father John V. Quincannon -- founder and current CEO of TriDyne Technologies, the nation's leading defense contractor.

Mr. Quincannon suffered an unexpected heart failure a couple of days ago, and was admitted to Providence a day after. Since then, his condition worsened to a point where doctors had no idea if the multiple surgeries done to save his life would have the desired effect.

With the remaining Quincannon family and TriDyne's Board of Directors all crowding around John's bed, there was an air of uncertainty and fear amongst them. TriDyne was the Quincannon legacy at its apex: a multi-million dollar enterprise built on advanced weaponry and technology. Its crowning achievement was also currently being utilized in the frontlines of Operation: Desert Storm by American troops -- an advanced exo-skeleton designed to maximize combat effectiveness while minimizing soldier casualties.

The big question that was on everyone's mind was what would happen to the company if John V. Quincannon, The Father of All Technology, were to pass away right here and now. Mr. Quincannon did not name a successor to run TriDyne in his stead.

"I un... under.... stand that there is great concern about myself and... where TriDyne will go if I were.... to die due to my.... pre---" Mr. Quincannon began to to talk with great difficulty. He felt his voice giving out on him and his heart close to failing altogether.

"I have personally deci..... decided that the responsibility of continuing my life..... long work is some.... som---"

Mr. Quincannon abruptly lost the ability to speak, but it was clear who he had in mind to succeed him as CEO of TriDyne. He weakly reached out his hand to point towards his 27 year-old daughter, Jacqueline.

That cold expression on Jackie's face remained, even as her relatives and the TriDyne Board of Directors were all looking at her. She didn't seem moved at all by her father's decision.

The patriarch of the Quincannon legacy tried to say something to justify his announcement, but Jackie opted to take this time to rudely cut him off.

"Father, you once said that progress was an inevitability and that we should embrace it as soon as we can," Jackie crossed her arms. "that's exactly what I plan on doing... it's just too bad that you won't be around to see me succeed and progress where you failed."

The Quincannon family members collectively gasped in shock at Jackie's callous words. Jordan Quincannon, one of John's nephews, shook his fist in anger and looked like he was ready to give Jackie a piece of his mind. He had to be held back by the other relatives. Meanwhile, the TriDyne Board of Directors were bemused, but not riled up to the extent that the Quincannon family was by Jackie's remarks.

Jackie wasn't deterred by the bubbling hostility she was facing and continued with her impromptu speech. "TriDyne is evolving and adapting to meet the needs of this country for the 90s. You never believed in me or in what I have done in my life, old man. Your passing is going help me achieve even greater progress."

"And I will embrace that freely while your decrepit corpse marches to the grave."

Mr. Quincannon could only provide a feeble whimper in response to his daughter's abrasive rant. The EKG machine next to his bed began to show his heart flatlining, soon prompting the room to fall silent.

While everyone looked mournful for the death one of America's most successful business magnates, Jacqueline Quincannon's stare remained cruelly cold in her undivided attention to the deceased body of a man she grew to resent over the years.

This was her moment now to prove that she was better than her father in every way. Nobody was going to stand in the way of her progress.

\---

_Created in a laboratory in 1995 and imbued with extraordinary superhuman abilities, Project Singularity subject **SK-591** was meant as the first of an army of superpowered soldiers to be deployed in highly-sensitive wetworks operations. **Dr. Elizabeth Emery** , unhappy with her employers’ militaristic plans for her project, liberated SK-591 from SDI and strived to raise the baby with values of compassion and kindness. Unfortunately, Dr. Emery mysteriously disappeared in 2001, forcing her surrogate daughter to fend for herself in a world she barely knew for many years._

_After stopping SDI’s plans to turn her into a mindless weapon of destruction, the young woman known to the City of Toronto as_ **_Skye Emery_ ** _now uses her superhuman strength, speed, and endurance to defend her fellow Torontonians from whatever evil threatens them! Together with her friend_ **_Finch Finwick_ ** _and superpowered young sister_ **_Ava Lorenz,_ ** _Skye heroically fights the good fight while trying to find her place in the community she’s vowed to protect..._

\---

** Chapter I -- Nothing But Blue Skies **

**_ Toronto Harbourfront Centre - May 22nd, 2016: Four Months After The Fall of SDI _ **

For twenty-one year old Skye Emery, being able to spend a quiet Sunday afternoon without having to put herself through cleaning up the streets of Toronto of whatever crime she could track down was something she welcomed with open arms.

It had been a few months since Skye -- with the help of her friend Finn Finwick and newly-adopted surrogate sister Ava Lorenz -- took down SDI Genomics and its Project Singularity super-soldier creation initiative run by SDI CEO Gerald Selfridge.

This initiative was the very same project that literally created Skye to be the first of an intended legion of superpowered soldiers designed only for warfare without any semblance of free will. Thanks to the timely intervention and kindness of one Dr. Elizabeth Emery, -- a SDI scientist who intended for the Project to be used to cure illnesses -- Skye avoided this fate, becoming a nomadic Good Samaritan of sorts, compelled by a past plagued by mystery and the legacy of a kind mother figure to use her gifts as a way to save lives.

This commitment to being a hero had the unintentional side effect of turning Skye into a high-profile figure and a local Toronto icon of sorts. Within a few months since the SDI incident, the name "Skye Emery" became as much of a household name as Josh Donaldson or Drake was to the average Torontonian.

She really didn't let that newfound fame go to her head, however, mainly due to having some experience in dealing with that during her days of being a almost mythical figure in Timmins, Ontario a few years ago, so being known as a publicly-loved hero was nothing new for Skye.

Today, however, was a day for relaxing. A day where Skye hopefully didn't have to worry about being the centre of attention due to her ceaseless heroism. This was just a simply a day for her to spend some quality bonding time with Ava, who suggested Harbourfront as the place to enjoy on this Sunday afternoon before Victoria Day.

To avoid people recognizing her due to her distinctive purple-and-pink hair, Skye wore a white Toronto Maple Leafs hat that Finn left by mistake in his old apartment after moving in with Stephen O'Day. It made for the perfect makeshift disguise, even if Skye's slightly-growing hair (she let it grow out a bit for a few months after stopping SDI) was fairly noticeable.

Despite never having a chance to experience Harbourfront for herself, Ava had heard stories from around her Kensington Market neighbourhood about how magnificent everything was by the lake, and that Harbourfront was the place to be on weekends.

Having a fun day here was Ava’s way of helping Skye get in touch with her humanity even further, as part of her continuing efforts of getting to know her adopted big sister a lot better.

After paying for a meal of Beaver Tails, Ava left the truck that was selling them and returned to the table where Skye was sitting by herself.

While Ava was enjoying a bite of her cinnamon-flavored Beaver Tails pastry, Skye simply watched quietly as kids were playing a makeshift game of soccer on the grass, while other patrons of Harbourfront happily delighted themselves on this warm Sunday afternoon in their own way.

By virtue of spending years and years on the run, these kind of peaceful days for Skye were few and far in-between. And even if she did manage to have such days in the past, her faulty memories would end up erasing these days from Skye’s mind at the most inopportune of times. 

It seemed as though the memory lapses that plagued Skye disappeared upon stopping SDI’s Project Singularity, so it allowed her now to take time to enjoy life freely and without fear of forgetting it all the next day.

Ava nudged the plate of Beaver Tails towards Skye before leaning closer to her. "Hey, Skye, y'should really try this! It's delicious!"

With a smile towards her young sister, Skye took a big bite out of the Beaver Tail on her fork. As Ava expected, Skye seemed to really enjoy the sweetly-made pastry, enough to the point of having another piece of it. Rather than use the fork again, Skye simply grabbed a large piece with her bare hand and dug into it enthusiastically. 

At that moment, a couple of the soccer-playing kids stopped with their makeshift game on the grass when they noticed Skye sitting with Ava. Her signature purple/pink pixie haircut was definitely hard to miss, after all.

"Hey, Allie!" One of the young kids -- who looked to be in grade five or six -- yelled to one of his friends. "I can't believe that Skye Emery is here in front of us!"

The kids ran excitedly towards the table that Skye and Ava were sitting on, all eager to get a chance to meet Toronto's newest hero.

"Um... miss... h-how did you become so strong?" Bryant, one of Skye's enthusiastic admirers amongst the group of soccer-playing kids, asked with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Are you really a superhero?" Another kid asked.

"Can you fly?" Yet another kid had a question.

"Who would win in a fight? You or Spider-Man?"

"Why do they call you 'Skye'?"

Skye was largely speechless at seeing the kids' collective excitement over just getting a chance to see someone like her. She didn't see herself as a hero -- just someone who did the right thing because it needed to be done.

Ava, on the other hand, had a different reaction to the kids' crowding around her and Skye. She was genuinely happy that people were admiring Skye as much as she did. Ava wasn't really someone who loved superheroes and that sort of thing, but she really couldn't help but be ecstatic that she knew one for real.

"Just... um, eat your vitamins and always exercise." Skye told the group of kids praising her. "Y'might not become as strong as I am, but I promise you, it'll help you guys stay healthy."

The kids oohed and ahhed with genuine interest at Skye's advice, while Ava looked on quietly.

That quiet, tender moment was abruptly cut short by the sounds of sirens signalling possible police activity nearby. Within moments, a fleet of Toronto Police cars raced along Queen's Quay -- all of them chasing down an indigo blue SUV that seemed to be built for a getaway more than anything else.

"Okay, those sirens wailing don't sound like anything good..." Skye surmised before abruptly running off in the direction of the emergency vehicles speeding along Queen's Quay. Naturally, Skye's sudden sprint caught the eyes of the pedestrians walking by, who all stopped in their place to catch a glimpse at Toronto's newest superpowered sensation in action. 

The soccer-playing kids cheered Skye on from afar as if it were she was an athlete ready to shine on the big stage.

Tuning out the cheers to focus on pursuing the fleeing SUV, Skye managed to fluidly leap from the ground onto a moving red-and-white TTC streetcar, which naturally startled the people riding inside it.

"Waaaaaaait for me!" Ava hollered while she put on her pink bike helmet and mounted herself onto the bike parked beside the table she was sitting on. She pedaled as fast as she could in order to catch up with Skye, who had already ran across the streetcar before jumping onto a Toronto Police Emergency Task Force truck.

Using her peak-human vision, Skye was able to spot the indigo blue SUV that seemed to be the cause of this impromptu police chase. Meanwhile, Ava pushed herself to pedal fast enough to keep pace with her super-soldier friend.

Skye looked down below her to see a man riding a sleek superbike-style grey motorcycle right beside the Emergency Task Force vehicle she hitched a ride on.

"Sorry about this, sir!" Skye shouted in apology while knocking aside the motorcycle rider with a diving kick to commandeer his bike. She revved her hijacked ride almost right away in order to continue her pursuit of the speeding SUV.

The masked thug sitting on the passenger side quickly shuffled around his flak jacket to get out his gun. Once he did, he tried pointing it at Skye, who simply veered towards to the thug to get close enough to engage him.

With a single one-armed elbow strike to the gun-wielding arm of the thug, Skye easily disarmed him before grabbing on to his arm to knock him out by pulling him right into the interior of the door.

At that moment, the thug driving the vehicle stepped on the gas to try and make one final escape by quickly making a turn on Bay Street. Naturally, Skye attempted to keep pace by positioning herself right behind the speeding vehicle, with Toronto Police right on the tail of the SUV she was chasing.

Once she again got close to the SUV, Skye kicked at it with enough strength to send it skidding into the then-unoccupied public parking lot in front of the Air Canada Centre and the concrete pillars that made up part of the Gardiner Expressway.

Skye stopped her motorcycle in that same parking lot and began to examine the crashed SUV to see what was so important about it that some criminals decided to steal it out of the blue on a day like today. With her super-strength, she easily ripped out the back door of the SUV, discovering several briefcases and duffel bags stuffed in the cargo.

The twenty year-old superhuman took one of the briefcases and opened it immediately. The briefcase in question was filled with what appeared to be thousands and thousands of dollars -- both American and Canadian currency mixed altogether.

This prompted Skye to further investigate the duffel bags, whereupon she saw some of them filled with assault weapons that were explicitly banned in Canada.

Skye's enhanced hearing picked up the sound of a handgun being locked and loaded, which gave her a brief second to spot the driver of the SUV about to fire at her. She dodged the single shot fired at her before kicking away the gun from the shooter's hand.

Having a good look at who was facing her right now, Skye scouted her opponent. The man appeared to be of a bulky build, wearing a tactical vest that exposed his tattooed-covered arms. Despite having to fight a superpowered foe, this thug had an incredibly arrogant grin on his face. He was not afraid.

"Heheheheh.... I've always wanted a chance to knock the great Skye Emery on her ass..." the heavily-tattooed thug let out a sickening chuckle upon seeing that Skye was going to be his opponent. "Wait 'til they hear about how I beat up this city's great superhero like she was nothin'!"

"I've got some bad news for your pals, then..." Skye taunted while avoiding the thug's fists with her usual agility. "...'cause they only thing they'll hear is how I beat you to a pulp."

Letting out a growl of anger, the thug tried to throw his gun at Skye, but she dodged it quickly before leaping at the thug with a flying forearm. She followed that up with an acrobatic somersault kick that somehow didn't take down the thug completely.

The tattooed thug wrapped his bulging arms around Skye's lithe frame in the hopes of crushing her bones, but that was to no success due to how strong Skye's body was, despite how small she looked.

Skye escaped the thug's grasp with a two-footed kick that forced him to let her go. The twenty year-old superhero fell on her back to the pavement, but she got herself back up again.

 _"Need to end this fast before things escalate..."_ Skye surmised while preparing to face off against the tattooed thug once again.

The twenty year-old tried to strike the thug with her fist, but she found herself feeling weak and uncoordinated for an all-too-brief second. This was enough for the thug to counter with a vicious knee to Skye's gut, then connecting with a hard punch to her jaw.

The thug's punch seemed to be enough to bruise Skye's face, while also momentarily stunning her.

 _"Augh.... this is not good."_ Skye tried to pull herself back up, something that became increasingly difficult due to the loss of strength. Her arms were as good as limp, making her unable to even get herself to her knees. _"Gotta find a way to get this big lug off his feet."_

Seeing that he was going to live up to that earlier boast, the tattooed thug grinned sadistically as he stood over the now-powerless Skye -- who was still trying to recover from being knocked down.

Skye didn't know why she was suddenly too weak to fight the thug that had her on the ropes, but she knew that if she didn't do something fast, she wouldn't live long enough to find out.

In a moment of sudden desperation, Skye kicked the tattooed thug in the groin to cause him to double over in ceaseless agony. Feeling her powers returning back to their regular levels, Skye picked up the thug and threw him right against the passenger door of the SUV he was driving.

While her superhuman abilities were back to normal, Skye still felt exhausted from the fight she just had, as evidenced by her labored breaths and legs feeling a bit wobbly. The fight didn't last very long, but it still somehow took a lot out of Skye.

As Toronto Police personnel soon made their way in droves to where Skye stood over the thugs she defeated with some unexpected difficulty, the twenty year-old slinked away to let the cops apprehend the thugs, seating herself on the ground against a parked Police cruiser to catch her breath.

Ava approached Skye from behind the small crowd that built up, not knowing how to process seeing her big sister get beaten up for a brief moment.

"....what happened? How did he ge--" Ava -- filled with tears of concern for Skye's well-being -- asked quietly.

"I dunno." Skye had no explanation to offer for what happened to her. She was just as confused as Ava was about the whole thing.

“I’m not surprised to see you involved in this, Ms. Emery,” the firm voice of Toronto Police Chief Alexa MacDonald caught Skye and Ava a bit off-guard. “You always seem to be in the middle of these crime scenes…”

Despite someone directly addressing her at the moment, Skye kept to herself, her mind still lingering on that all-too-brief moment where she felt some of her extraordinary strength disappear on her at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

It was something that perplexed Skye, who was injected with an experimental SDI-developed serum to help restore her powers a few months ago after they were taken away by armored super-weapons developed by Gerald Selfridge. The serum seemingly made her stronger than usual, but was the sudden loss of power a side effect coming into play months later?

In the meantime, Skye finally brought her attention back to reality, wanting to know more about the crooks she just took down. 

“Chief, with all due respect to you and your people,” the ever-headstrong twenty year-old looked Chief MacDonald firmly in her eyes and spoke out. “I’d like to have a closer look at the two bad guys I helped beat down.”

"Something tells me that this wasn't just a random Sunday afternoon crime."

“I understand the concern, but I think you’ve done enough for now, Ms. Emery,” Chief MacDonald responded with some bad news for Skye. “You might have superhuman abilities that put you above us in many ways, but my people can handle things from here.”

"I don't need this to become a feeding frenzy for the media, like it tends to be when you're around doing our jobs for us."

After an uncomfortable moment of silence, Skye looked to Ava and said quietly, "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Wait, that's it?" Ava was a bit confused.

"The Chief of the Toronto Police said that they had everything under control, so I guess we're done here, Ava." Skye answered back while giving a small wink to her sister. She was up to something.

"Oh, okay." Ava conceded, knowing that Skye had a trick up her sleeve.

While the Toronto Police dragged their two suspects away in handcuffs past both Skye and Ava, they didn't seem to notice when Skye discretely reached into one of the thug's jacket pockets to retrieve both their cellphone and wallet. That was their cue to leave the scene.

\---

_**Skye & Ava's Apartment, SafeHaven Homeless Shelter -- 5:45 pm** _

Despite Ava's repeated insistence to ask Skye about what happened with the two thugs she fought on the way back to their apartment inside the Gerrard Street-based shelter for at-risk youth, the twenty year-old remained fairly quiet about the ordeal. Instead, Skye chose to tell her adopted sister that she'd be fine.

The two sisters entered their quarters at Apartment 105 a room that Skye and Ava inherited from one Finch "Finn" Finwick, their closest friend. Despite having new tenants, Apartment 105 was as unkempt as it was when Finn stayed there. There was still only one bed to sleep in, so Ava got the honors of having a comfy bed to herself. Skye honestly didn't mind that she had to sleep on the couch that was right in front of the wide coffee table and LED TV provided to them by SafeHaven management. It wasn't really comfortable, but it was a step up from having to lull herself to sleep on the streets during the many years she found herself on the run.

"Y'sure y'don't want to talk about what happened?" Ava asked yet again about Skye's earlier fight while turning on her laptop.

"That big dude just caught me napping, that's all..."

"Alright, then..." Ava nodded.

Right as Ava logged on to her laptop, the familiar Skype ringtone blared on cue as a silly-looking picture of Finn making a funny face with Ava (and Skye looking embarrassed in the background) popped up on the laptop screen. Without hesitation, Ava clicked the "Accept Call" button below the picture.

The picture disappeared right as a live video of Finn appeared in its place. He was dressed in a half-buttoned light blue long-sleeved shirt, like he was about to get ready for a night out. Indeed, he was checking in on his friends while on the road in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania alongside his soon-to-be-husband Stephen O'Day, whose Toronto Marlies were taking on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the second round of the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs.

"...while I think it's kinda cool that I'm close with two of the biggest stories right now in our city," Finn's always-concerned voice rang through from the Skype screen on Ava's laptop.

"Was it really a good idea to be doing your whole 'crime-fighting superhero' thing on a day like today?"

"How'd you even know about what happened from where you are?" Ava asked.

Finn pulled on a dark blue vested suit, putting it on carefully. "To be fair, it's kinda easy to get the news about Skye since she decided to go on her vigilante superhero thing a few months ago..."

"Look, Finn, I'm sorry..." Skye offered a blithe apology while messing around with a foam stress ball in her hand, using very little of her strength to avoid accidentally crushing it into nothingness. "You of all people should know that I can't ignore trouble when I see it happening right in front of me."

"I mean, it's what my mother would've wanted for me to become."

While being very much a public figure was a nice incentive for her heroics, Skye never forgot the lessons and emotional support that Dr. Elizabeth Emery showed her when she was being raised. It helped her remain humble, even with her growing popularity in the city. This was one of the main reasons why Skye wanted to honor her memory by adopting the Emery surname for her own use.

"If anything, I probably should be the one apologizing, Skye," Finn calmed himself down while Stephen O'Day was frantically trying to get his pants on behind him. "I know how seriously you take trying to be the person Dr. Emery wanted you to be like, but it's just been kinda hard keeping up with you and Ava while trying to make sure things are perfect for the wedding."

"Also, Leo's got something cool that he really is excited to show you, so if you'd like to..."

"Sorry to ruin the tender moment, Finn, but me and Ava didn't just call to say hi to you and Stephen," Skye advised her friends of important matters that needed to be addressed.

"It's about what happened earlier when I fought those two goons."

"Oh?" Finn murmured in curiosity. He was naturally assuming that Skye was talking about the worst case scenario possible for her. Finn was, of course, unknowingly right on the button with his concern for Skye's well-being.

Within seconds, Skye pulled out the wallet and cellphone of the thug she was fighting earlier from her jacket pocket, putting them on the table for Finn to see.

"I jacked these from that criminal who went toe-to-toe with me," she explained to her friend. "I figured that maybe two crooks who thought driving around town with a truck filled with stolen money and guns wasn't just some random occurrence on a Sunday afternoon."

Ava took the black smartphone from the table and began fiddling around with it. She attempted to turn it on, only to be met with a passcode screen requiring a four-digit code to be entered in order to access the phone.

Upon opening up the wallet, Skye and Ava (and Finn from behind the laptop screen) noticed an American passport fall onto the table. Without hesitation, Skye flipped it open to see who it belonged to.

On the ID page was the picture of a bearded man with thinning black hair. Skye recognized the man as the same one who nearly killed her earlier. To the right of that man's image was the name "Dennis Ackland" under the "Given Name" column.

Despite the apparent authenticity of Ackland's passport, Skye knew right away that something was off about it, which only helped to raise her suspicions about the incident today.

"If I didn't know any better, Mr. Ackland's got something to hide," Skye deduced as she emptied out the wallet several more ID cards that were under the supposed name of Dennis Ackland.

"Credit cards, gun registry ID.... wait, what's this? Secret Service?" Skye's attention diverted to a U.S. Secret Service ID belonging to Dennis Ackland... though the man pictured on the ID card looked vastly different to the Dennis Ackland from the passport.

"If this is a doctored Secret Service ID, what could some random thug hope to possibly even do with all of this?"

"Maybe he's trying to do some crazy bootlegging thing or whatever," Ava responded.

"You're seeing this too, Finn... uh.... Finn? Hello?" Skye tried to get the attention of her best friend on the laptop.

Unfortunately, Finn's attention was now focused on Stephen O'Day, who was getting fully dressed to hit the ice with the Marlies for warmups. The Skype call abruptly ended not long after.

Skye sighed wistfully. "I guess it's just us for now, Ava. Let's get star--"

A frantic, yet rhythmic knocking sound prompted Ava to stop what she was doing so that she could open the door.

As if on cue, it was Leo Stein, who had something in store for Skye according to Finn.

Leo awkwardly rubbed his scraggly light brown hair "Uh... if it's not any trouble or anything... Finn asked me if I could sho--"

"What a wonderful coincidence, Leo. We were just talking about you with Finn..." Skye addressed the arrival of Finn's other best friend to the apartment.

"Show us what you've got."


	2. Chapter II

**Chapter II — The Gathering Storm**

_**Mayor Miguel Morales’ Office, Toronto City Hall — 5:48 pm** _

There was a lot on the mind of the Filipino-born Mayor of Toronto, who currently was in the company of both Chief MacDonald and RCMP Commissioner Jean Lacroix. The two chiefs were inside Mayor Morales’ office to discuss plans for tomorrow’s ceremony at the U.S. Consulate General building to commemorate the approval of a renewable energy pact between Canada and the United States.

This pact, known as The Evergreen Framework for Clean Energy, would ensure the successful collaboration on a new strategy to better manage solar and wind energy resources across the continent. Toronto would be one of over 20 cities across Canada and the U.S. housing new joint solar/wind energy plants.

Among the guests that would be at this ceremony included Jill Jeffries, the American ambassador to Canada, as well as Secretary of Energy Philip Weaver. Prime Minister Denis Veilleux and Natural Resources Minister Gerard Owens were scheduled to represent the Canadian government, while Ontario Premier Sheila Wilson was also set to attend the Victoria Day ceremony.

“Chief MacDonald, I trust that we’ll have your personnel protecting the ceremony from top to bottom?” Mayor Morales queried.

“Yes, sir.” she answered right back.

“While we’re in the mood for asking questions,” Commissioner Lacroix joined in the conversation. “the RCMP has been closely monitoring this whole Skye Emery situation that you’ve got.”

“I think you misunderstand what’s going on with Ms. Emery,” Chief MacDonald retorted. “She’s not a threat to anything. She’s got superhuman strength and the whole deal, but you can trust me when I say that she’s definitely one of the good guys.”

“Chief, it’s not Skye Emery who we’re worried about,” Commissioner Lacroix rubbed his chin before looking at the Toronto Police Chief’s direction. “It’s the danger that she invites thanks to whatever makes her so strong.”

“We’ve gotten briefings on Skye’s role in taking down SDI’s illegal ops, so we know what she’s capable of. I’m sure you’ve read the SDI report that we recently published, correct?”

“Tomorrow’s ceremony has nothing to do with that, Commissioner,” Chief MacDonald interrupted as she took a sip of coffee. “There really is no reason for Ms. Emery to be there whatsoever, so whatever threat you’re afraid of won’t be present. My officers will be there to assist the RCMP as much as they can.”

Mayor Morales cleared his throat to get the attention of Chief MacDonald and Commissioner Lacroix. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we all need to get on the same page here.”

“I’ve already assured the Prime Minister that tomorrow will run smoothly. I’m hoping I can count you both to help make that a reality. The ceremony’s a landmark progress not only for our city, but for ensuring a future worth living in. And it’s only fitting we unveil this city’s efforts on Victoria Day.”

“I agree, Mr. Mayor,” Chief MacDonald finished her cup of coffee before preparing to leave Mayor Morales’ office. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have two gun smugglers to personally interrogate.”

On that note, Chief MacDonald left the Mayor’s Office after saluting both Mayor Morales and Commissioner Lacroix, attending to some much-needed matters.

—

**_Leo Stein’s Apartment, SafeHaven Homeless Shelter – 5:50 pm_ **

Skye and Ava entered Leo’s third-floor apartment, both removing their slippers once they stepped through the door. The two-room apartment was a lot more cleaner and well-organized in comparison to the two sisters’ humble abode. The main room had a simple couch and small entertainment cabinet setup, and the entire apartment was lined in light-green walls.

“I’d advise you to help keep everything tidy by not getting things dirty,” Leo reminded while sauntering towards the apartment’s dining room table, which had a green and blue plaid blanket covering an unknown object.

“Thanks for the reminder, but me and Ava are a bit occupied with our own things to do, so if you could make this quick…” Skye requested Leo in a demanding, yet respectful manner.

“Oh, of course, Skye…” Leo remarked happily through the wide grin on his face. “I promise you it’ll be worth your time. Trust me.”

“I don’t know if you or Ava know this or not, but I’m a pretty damn good tailor…”

Leo’s dad was a tailor who ran his own local sewing & alterations store in the Cabbagetown area for many years until he passed away in 2005. During that time, said dad did manage to pass down all he knew about sewing and tailoring clothes to his son, to the point that all of it was basically second nature for Leo.

Ava was perplexed at what Leo was getting at. “That’s cool, but what does it have to do with the surprise for Skye?”

“Well, I can’t take credit for it by myself…” Leo chattered with joy about the surprise in question. “…a lot of it was Finn’s idea.”

“Y’see, we both figured that your jacket’s pretty damn cool, but it gets damaged a lot from all the superhero stuff you’re doing…”

Skye said nothing. Although she didn’t understand what Leo was getting at and how it related to the surprise Finn was talking about earlier, she didn’t want to seem rude by blowing him off in any way.

“As such, we decided that maybe it’s time you got an upgrade, if y’catch my drift.” Leo continued to talk about his handiwork. “So, without further ado… ba-da-dum-ba-bah!”

Leo pulled the green-and-blue plaid blanket to reveal a mannequin wearing a navy blue jacket that was significantly different from Skye’s old jacket, looking a bit more “superheroic” in appearance. A pair of blue and lighter blue fingerless gloves were also underneath that blanket, presumably to complete the look.

Of note was a sky blue arrow/wing striping pattern on the jacket’s arms, which called to mind the wing emblem emblazoned on Skye’s jacket. It was a subtle, yet unique design — one that seemed to impress Leo more than anyone else, being the designer of the jacket and all.

While Skye silently looked on in mild awe at what Leo designed for her, Ava couldn’t help but be even more excited about it than her big sister, even though it was for something that didn’t belong to her.

One thing that also managed to catch Skye’s eye was the white wing symbol on the new jacket’s left shoulder. It looked just like the one on her old jacket, but now looking even more stylized to resemble an “S” — which presumably stood for her name.

“Oh, you must be wondering about the wing logo on the jacket…” Leo began to explain its supposed significance. “…that was one of Finn’s inputs when we were working on making the jacket. He was all like ‘since Skye’s a superhero now, she needs a symbol of her own so here’s this…’ and I just kinda laughed.”

“Oh….kay, then…” Skye chuckled at Leo’s frenzied explanation while shaking her head in mild jest. “Seriously though, this is nice. I love what you and Finn did there…”

“…’sides, I kinda needed a good excuse to replace this old thing.”

For a brief minute, Skye observed the jacket she had on her right now. Sure, it had sentimental value to her, but it looked like it had been through hell. There were bullet holes everywhere and several dirt stains were all over the navy blue coat that had become her signature look. At the rate she was going with her superhero exploits, that jacket would probably get torn apart completely sooner rather than later.

Skye removed that tattered and worn old jacket and promptly took the newly-designed jacket from the mannequin so that she could wear it for herself. She couldn’t help but be a bit impressed at how light this jacket felt when she actually got a chance to wear it. Skye took the pair of matching fingerless gloves off the table and wore it on her hands before fully zipping up her new jacket.

“What do you think, Ava?” Skye asked her sister for her opinion on the new look while continuing to get a feel for her jacket.

With a smile beginning to crack through, Ava offered a simple response. “It really looks good on you. It’s awesome!”

“Yeah, you look positively superheroic now, Skye… and that’s just freaking awesome!” Leo had some overstated praise for his and Finn’s handiwork in designing Skye’s new “costume” for her whole superhero thing.

“W-w-wait… can I also get my costume too?” Ava blurted out, wanting to have her own hero suit as well.

Leo gave an exuberant thumbs up in response to the question being asked to him. “Oh, don’t worry, Ava… I’ll prolly get to work on something for you soon. It’s on the ‘to-do’ list.”

“Well, we’ll leave you to do that or whatever it is you do with your free time, me and Ava really should be going now.” Skye said coolly as she and Ava prepared to return back to their apartment.

Skye tried to leave Leo’s apartment, only to be stopped by Ava, who held on to her arm.

“Hey, sis…. maybe Leo can help us a bit more with what we were doing with that guy’s wallet & cellphone?” Ava thought up of an on-the-fly solution to their problem.

“Ava, I admit that Leo’s great at tailoring,” Skye replied. “but how exactly is he going to help us crack the whole Dennis Ackland thing?”

Leo’s attention seem to pick up when he heard Skye and Ava discussing about him. “Wait, what’s this you’re trying to do?”

“I mean… I’m also good with bypassing cellphone locks if it’ll help you with Danny Acker or whatever his name was.”

Skye only offered a deep sigh, but she did ultimately agree let Leo in on what was going on after quickly conferring with Ava. “Y’wanna help, Leo? Fine. Come meet me and Ava back at our apartment in about five minutes.”

“Just don’t be late.”

—

**Mohegan Sun Arena — 6:05 pm: One Hour To Game Time**

Finn looked around awkwardly, surrounded by Toronto Marlies players and coaching staff. He had been welcomed into the Marlies’ locker room as a guest of Stephen’s, mainly due to the sudden fame he had attained due to being wrongfully accused and then cleared of a murder back home in Toronto.

Tonight was Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Division Finals between the Marlies and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, a series that was tied at one.

Despite being around Stephen a lot more since moving in with him, Finn knew he looked very out of place wearing nothing more but a light blue vested suit and tan slacks among a sea of players in heavy-looking hockey gear and white sweaters.

While he was looking forward to see his future husband take to the ice against the Penguins, Finn couldn’t help but wonder what was going on with Skye. He hadn’t been around her in person since the day he helped her and Ava move into his old SafeHaven apartment back in March, so he didn’t have much knowledge about what was going on with his best friend.

Finn slowly turned to his side to see William Nylander & Connor Brown, Stephen’s two linemates walk past him to talk strategy with their centreman for tonight’s game. The trio formed the Marlies’ top scoring line.

“…hi?” he peeped to the two players, who really didn’t react to him. They were both busy talking with Stephen.

Still looking to start a conversation with anyone he could find in the locker room, Finn darted his eyes back and forth, hoping to look like he’d fit in with the Marlies.

Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe clapped his hands briefly to get the attention of his team. “Okay, guys… if I could have your attention for just a second.”

“Last game wasn’t exactly our best. Wilkes-Barre whupped us good all over the ice and on the scoreboard. It’s inspired me to make a few changes to the lineup…”

Coach Keefe pointed at Stephen. “O’Day… let’s see how a line with you, Leips and Kaps works out. Let’s keep ’em guessing.”

“Fine with me, coach.” Stephen shrugged.

“Alright, then…” Coach Keefe handed his playbook to Gord Dineen, one of his assistant coaches. “…Findlay, your line with Leivo & Nylander starts us off tonight. Rest of you know your assignments. Hit ’em fast and don’t let up.”

The Marlies players & staff all extended their arms to form a circle before simultaneously chanting “one-two-three… MARLIES!”

With team captain Andrew Campbell leading the way, the Marlies left the locker room in a single file, all save for Stephen, who was still confiding with Finn.

“I should really thank Coach Keefe for setting you up with a seat behind our bench tonight,” Stephen said while giving Finn a ticket for tonight’s game. “I kinda told him and the rest of the team about our engagement and the wed–“

“I’m sorry, Stephen, if I didn’t know any better, I could’ve sworn you said that you invited your teammates to the wedding that I haven’t even planned yet…” Finn feigned a nervous laugh.

“Yeah, that’s what I did say.” Stephen admitted. “It’s a special day for me, and I do want my friends to be there with me. I know your pals Skye and Ava are gonna be there, right?”

“I suppose, yeah,” Finn sighed in response. “It’s just… that maybe we should actually have the wedding planned before we get too ahead of ourselves with the inviting and all that.”

Stephen put on his helmet and clasped the chinstraps to keep it on his head. “That’s true. I was just excited, that’s all. I guess we’ll talk it over after the game.”

“Keep your eyes on the ice tonight, Finn. You’re gonna see something special.”

Stephen rubbed his gloved hand over Finn’s brown hair in an affectionate gesture. In response, Finn kissed his fiance on the cheek before making his way out of the locker room.

As he left the Marlies’ locker room, Finn once again had Skye on his mind. Even with their fruitful talk earlier, he knew that something was eating away at his best friend’s emotions. In the meantime, though, it was time for Finn to watch his fiance-to-be hit the ice for his playoff game.

—

**Toronto Police Headquarters, Jail Cell Area – 6:05 pm**

Inside one of the many cells within Police Headquarters’ jailing area sat the two thugs who had caused the earlier disturbance along Bay Street — the tattooed man who was supposedly known as “Dennis Ackland” and his cohort, who he knew simply as “Scratch”. They had been both apprehended after Skye beat them both following a heist they had just pulled off hours before their encounter with Toronto’s very own superhero.

This heist involved the theft of briefcases containing over millions of American and Canadian dollars, as well as a cache of illegally-obtained assault weapons. The two thugs were hoping to find a way to deliver these stolen goods to the person that contacted them through an encrypted channel for as-of-yet unknown reasons.

Despite his arrest and multiple injuries sustained during their encounter with Skye, Scratch didn’t appear to be all that broken up about his predicament — directly contrasting how his bigger and tougher cohort was feeling right now.

Scratch had been a part of multiple heists for many years now, most of which just involved stealing money and cars for an underground smuggling ring. He saw this latest opportunity as a “big score” for him, even if he didn’t know who hired him or his cohort. Getting a chance to tangle with the publicly-known “superhero of Toronto” was just an added incentive for him.

His larger and more physically-imposing cohort wasn’t actually named “Dennis Ackland”, Scratch referred to him simply as “Dubs”, whom he met during one of his heists back in 2010.

“Police have apprehended the two suspects involved in a chase along Queen’s Quay following their encounter with Skye Emery…” the voice of the City-One News anchor spoke on the television just hanging above the ceiling inside the cell area. “…the identities of the two individuals have not been released.”

“Could ya shut that fucking TV off?” Dubs growled. “I’m gettin’ tired of seeing myself beaten up!”

“You really think I’ll listen to you two?” The Toronto Police officer — whose name badge identified him as “Constable Danny Weiss” — held his ground, despite not exactly looking like someone you’d find as “intimidating. “Both of you have some nerve ripping up our city like that with your latest stunt. You’re gonna stay here ’til you both stand trial for your crimes.”

Dubs’ anger continued to build up more and more, and Constable Weiss’ stance towards him and Scratch’s incarceration did nothing to defuse that.

“If you could, Dubs, please calm yourself. I’ve got this guy handled.” Scratch motioned to his muscular cohort to stand down before turning to face Constable Weiss.

Scratch grabbed the collar of his sweater and pulled it down to reveal a latex-like material that he seemed to be actually wearing presently. With a single press of a button, Scratch’s face slowly transformed to resemble Constable Weiss’s own face.

“Whuh…. what the hell did you do!?” The officer screamed at the identical doppelganger looking him right in the face from behind the jail bars.

Wearing the face of the Toronto Police officer watching over him and his cohort, Scratch twisted his hand and pressed down his wrist to fire a discreet dart right to the neck of the officer. Within an instant, Weiss fell unconscious onto the floor.

“Goddamn, Scratch, y’really know how ta knock ’em dead!” Dubs had himself a hearty laugh over his partner’s dirty work. “But, how in the hell are we gettin’ out of here to finish the big score?”

Scratch let an evil little smile form on his face. “You leave that to me.”


	3. Chapter III

**Chapter III — Progress Today, Progress Tomorrow**

**_TriDyne Corporate Headquarters – May 6th, 2016: The New Progress_ **

Standing inside a small auditorium with an audience of various U.S. military officials, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Secretary of Defense, Jackie Quincannon began to speak in front of a massive screen that showed the TriDyne logo superimposed over an American flag. Today was the day Jackie was set to introduce a bold new innovation that her company was at the forefront of that would be for the benefit of the defense industry.

This was, ideally, the natural extension of TriDyne’s long-standing collaboration with the United States Armed Forces — one that managed to endure for over thirty years, even with the growing frustration of the company’s ambitious CEO.

“A good morning to you, Mr. Secretary and to the members of the Armed Forces that have joined me today for history to unfold,” Ms. Quincannon began her speech.

“For years, our troops have fought and bled for this country overseas and have suffered the consequences — all in the name of keeping Americans safe. Thankfully, those days of needless casualties will now be a thing of the past.”

The screen behind Quincannon faded to show a silhouette of what appeared to be someone wearing some form of heavy armor. The image zoomed into clarity to reveal an American soldier armed with massive metallic gauntlets and an advanced helmet that covered his entire face in a dark green visor.

“I give you Operation: Safeguard, TriDyne Technologies’ latest defense breakthrough.” Quincannon proudly boasted her company’s newest creation — a byproduct of years of extensive military research & development. “The armor system you see before you is designed to enhance all cognitive functions and physical strength to maximum capability to ensure superior combat effectiveness.”

“Each Safeguard system is also outfitted with a serum dispersal unit that continually pumps a specialized formula that we’ve acquired from the SDI corporation, one of TriDyne’s newest subsidiaries.”

As a demonstration of Quincannon’s bold claims, the screen began to show the soldier wearing Safeguard tech fighting in a simulated combat situation. This simulation featured the enhanced soldier effortlessly defeating an entire battalion of enemy troops before lifting a tank over his head and tossing it at a helicopter hovering high in the sky.

The serum that Quincannon mentioned was one similar to the formulas used by SDI for its planned rebirth of the Project Singularity super-soldier program — the very same program that crumbled to the very ground thanks to Skye Emery and her friends. Now, all of it was property of TriDyne Technologies, and Quincannon was free to use it for her own needs… even if it involved her cohorts in the Conglomerate, a hidden council of wealthy businesspersons and government officials working from behind the shadows to attempt to influence American policy.

“We estimate that by the end of this year, all those currently serving in the United States Armed Forces will be outfitted with Safeguard technology. It is really what is best for you and what is best for America.”

“With all due respect, Ms. Quincannon,” Secretary William Spiegel rose up from his auditorium chair and replied to what he was seeing. “This dog and pony show is impressive, but we’ve already got existing contracts to honor with our current partners, so we unfortunately can’t fast-track your Safeguard project for integration by the end of 2016.”

Quincannon’s enthusiasm for her project slowly dissipated into a nervous chuckle before settling onto an unsettling, yet tranquil rage for the rejection. “You can’t… you can’t do this to me, Mister Secretary. You can’t do this to the company!”

“For thirty goddamned years, my family and this company has been supplying you with weaponry and tech and we’ve never gotten as much as a ‘thank you’ for any of it! Without us, you’d barely even have an army today. They’d all be dead without TriDyne.”

Quincannon angrily marched down from the stage and looked the Defense Secretary right in the eye. The ambition for progress that was an inherent part of who she was, shaping her into someone who simply would not take “no” for an answer from anyone.

“I’m sorry, but the United States Armed Forces isn’t just another subsidiary of your company,” General Thomas Rycroft, the head of the Joint Chiefs, put his metaphorical foot down on Quincannon’s outburst. “We respect all that TriDyne has done for us and this country, but we simply just do not have the time to fully implement your super-soldiers within the time frame you’ve asked.”

“But I’ve go–” Quincannon protested in anger before she was cut off.

Secretary Spiegel finally put an end to the potential standoff between his assembled defense staff and Quincannon. “I think we’re done here. Thank you for the presentation and for your service to this nation.”

The Secretary of Defense and the military officials collectively exited the Auditorium, all of whom had a mix of emotions filling their minds. Some were impressed by Quincannon’s presentation, while others were left questioning the TriDyne CEO’s sporadic and inexplicable outburst — wondering if there were some temperament issues at hand.

Left to stew in her own frustrations and failures, Quincannon watched her audience leave the Auditorium before pulling out a cellphone from the inner pocket of her charcoal grey suit to make a certain call. While her relations with U.S. military officials wasn’t exactly on solid ground, Quincannon still had certain connections with individuals on Capitol Hill — these connections naturally including a few members of Congress.

“Good morning, Senator Rosenthal,” Quincannon tried to maintain a level of calmness that seemed to disappear after her verbal spat with the Secretary of Defense. “It’s Jackie again. You remember when you agreed to let TriDyne lobby for your proposed Homeland Security bill?”

“Now I’ll need for you to hold up your end of the bargain. Let’s have a talk over brunch tomorrow.”

—

**_Skye & Ava’s Apartment – Present Day, 6:10 pm_ **

Despite Skye’s suggestion for Leo not to be late in meeting her and Ava back at their apartment, Finn’s other best friend took over 10 minutes just to get to the sisters’ first-level residency. That’s because he was getting together all the stuff he could think of that he could use to help Skye and Ava out with their impromptu investigation of one of the two thugs from earlier.

Leo stood right in front of the door to Apartment 105 holding an entire cardboard box of assorted gadgets and old, discarded cellphones that he somehow had in his possession. Skye opened the door, a look of mild disappointment on her face present due to Leo’s lateness.

“I know you said not to be late, but I did have to get my crap with me, so… um, sorry?” Leo sheepishly shrugged his shoulders, embarrassed that he couldn’t be earlier.

“It’s fine, really. Just get inside, Leo.” Skye said nonchalantly as she welcomed the twenty-three year-old to her apartment.

Leo removed his fluffy brown sandals upon entering the apartment and put his so-called “box of crap” on the dining table. Being someone who preferred things to be very tidy, the young man couldn’t help but meticulously put every single thing inside his box in a neatly-organized line, with everything organized in their own respective categories.

He made himself comfortable on the dark green couch facing the modest entertainment area’s flat-screen TV, lying down and putting his feet up on the arm rests as if he were right at home.

“Hey, y’wanna help me and Ava out?” Skye noticed Leo casually relaxing on the couch, offering a quick reminder. “Here, figure this thing out.”

Skye lobbed the smartphone belonging to “Dennis Ackland” at Leo’s chest, causing him to scramble his hands into getting a hold of it. The smartphone fumbled through the air before Leo caught it with a single hand.

While Leo began to mess around with the smartphone’s passcode entry screen, Skye looked away to turn her attention to Ava, who had her head down as pop music on the radio played on her own cellphone.

“You’re listening to 101.5: The New Hype of Toronto. All Hits, All The Time!” the loud voiceover on the radio proudly promoted.

Despite the considerable volume of the music on Ava’s phone, Skye could hear the faint whimper of tears coming from her young sister. This prompter her to take a seat on the rounded empty chair beside Ava.

Putting a comforting arm on Ava’s shoulders, Skye quietly asked, “Hey, you. Y’feeling okay?”

Ava slowly raised her head from her arms and sadly stared at Skye, unable to answer the question being asked of her.

“I’m just scared…” the fifteen year-old admitted. Skye’s earlier fight against that thug was still fresh on her mind. “…I’m kinda scared that you might die.”

Ava’s mind flashed back to what happened over a month ago while she and Skye were out grocery shopping at the Loblaws near SafeHaven. That was the day when Skye had a breakdown of sorts — one presumably brought on by memories of her creator/mother, Dr. Elizabeth Emery. While that moment did end up having a happy ending, Ava simply couldn’t help but wonder if her big sister’s current problem had something to do with her breakdown last month.

“I’ll figure it out. I promise.” Skye said reassuringly.

While she had no idea about the exact cause of losing her superhuman abilities briefly, Skye tried her best to reassure Ava that she was going to be fine. That was all she could offer right now in the face of this uncertainty that was clouding her mind right now.

Ava was still uncertain. “What about Finn? Are you going to tell him about this?”

Skye thought long and hard about all the things Finn was buried with at the moment — especially with his plans for the wedding with Stephen. Piling on the emotional burden that surely would come if she told her best friend about her inexplicable power loss was something that was not an option for now. That’s what prompted Skye to come to the decision of withholding her power loss from Finn for the time being. It wasn’t going to be an easy choice to make, but she had to do it for his sake.

“Not yet, Ava. I don’t wanna stress him out even more when he’s got enough to worry about with wedding planning.”

“Isn’t he gonna find out sooner or later?” Ava asked curiously.

“Yeah, I know.” Skye freely confessed. She knew that Finn was someone who would dig deep to find the truth no matter what. But this was one truth Skye didn’t want her friend to find out yet. For his own sake. “The time will come when he finds out, but I hope I can figure it out before that moment comes.”

“Now that’s out of the way, it’s the long weekend… and I do think it’s time to get our groove on, Ava.”

A minute smile on Ava’s face slowly materialized before she turned up the music on her phone and started to happily sway back and forth on her chair. Skye couldn’t help but be taken in by the booming bass beats of the music on Ava’s phone as she started to show off some moves herself.

Skye’s surprise dancing seemed to cheer up Ava a bit more than she initially thought. Not long after, the two sisters began to dance in rhythmic synchronicity with one another and the song on the radio. And then came the singing.

“It’s in my head, darling…. I hope that you’ll be here, when I need you the most…” Ava sang loudly before Skye decided to join in.

“…So don’t let me, don’t let me, don’t let me down… Don’t let me down…”

As Leo continued to try (and fail) to access Dennis Ackland’s cellphone (which largely just consisted of trying every four-digit password combination he could think of), his attention briefly turned to Skye and Ava’s spontaneous song and dance.  Despite looking right at the dancing, Leo was still inputting whatever combinations was left for him to try.

Surprisingly, Leo’s strategy (or lack thereof) worked out in that the smartphone he was frantically trying to “hack” into suddenly opened up. The lockscreen was now replaced by a wallpaper design bearing the seal of the United States Secret Service against a plain blue background.

“Oh my…. hey! Uh… Skye, Ava?” Leo exclaimed with joy while holding up the now-unlocked smartphone of one Dennis Ackland in one hand.

As soon as she heard Leo call her name, Skye stopped in her place and paid attention to Finn’s best friend talking to her. “Yes? What is it?”

“I got that Dennis guy’s phone unlocked with my genius,” Leo beamed with pride at his accidental unlocking of the smartphone.

Skye caught Dennis Ackland’s phone with both hands after Leo lightly threw it to her. She didn’t hesitate to have a look at what exactly Dennis was up to. Taking a good long glance at the smartphone’s home screen, Skye noticed several folders pop up when she flicked her finger across the screen.

Tapping a folder marked “Files II”, Skye noticed what appeared to be schematics and blueprints for the U.S. Consulate General building immediately appear on-screen. This only served to raise even more suspicion in the plans of the two thugs she encountered earlier.

Skye glanced at another folder labeled “Secret Service Stuff”. Once the that folder opened, several PDF documents appeared in a listed format. These documents all had identical names (“USSSFile_”), only with numerical designations differentiating them from one another. She soon clicked on the file marked “USSFile_001”, which revealed a Security Clearance package, purportedly one for “Dennis Ackland”. Like with the falsified passport and Secret Service ID, the package was uncannily accurate to an actual Security Clearance form, but Skye wasn’t going to be easily fooled by the skulduggery.

“W-w-wait…. why would this Acker guy want a guide to the U.S. embassy building anyway?” Leo was understandably baffled by all of this. Dealing in matters that involved evil conspiracies really wasn’t his style, but he was trying his best to follow along.

It didn’t take Skye too long to figure out a motive for what Dennis Ackland and his partner-in-crime were planning. She did have experience with handling these kinds of evil conspiracy-level schemes for months now.

“If I had to guess, maybe this all has something to do with that Evergreen thing happening tomorrow,” Skye quickly deduced. “the very same event all over the news that’s got the Prime Minister and a bunch of American government guys showing up.”

“It’s an obvious target for a terror plot.”

Leo, still trying his damnedest to process what he was hearing, blurted out again. “Hold on a second, Skye… we’re bringing in international terrorism into this whole thing now?”

“And all for some energy ceremony? Seems like a was– oh my god.”

Finn’s twenty-two year-old friend didn’t fancy himself as someone dedicated to righting injustices in the city to the extent that Skye sought out to do, but he still felt like he wanted to help… even if he had no idea what was being discussed.

“I know this all really seems weird and stuff, Leo,” Ava answered while enjoying a bag of chocolate pretzels from the cupboard. “But me ‘n Skye have experience with this sorta thing. We’re kinda experts on fighting bad guys.”

Leo just listened silently without saying much else as Skye and Ava laid out the plan to try and stop a prospective terrorist attack from taking place tomorrow. It was clear that the sisters did indeed have the necessary experience with handling this sort of business, as evidenced by how confident and collected both Skye and Ava were in laying out the plan for tomorrow.

“The weapons and cash you found earlier… that couldn’t have been their only play in motion.” Ava leaned back on the beanbag chair she was sitting on while addressing her big sister’s encounter with the two thugs she fought hours ago.

“They’ve gotta be up to something big for that energy thing, sis.”

“My guess is that our pal Dennis Ackland was looking to impersonate an American Secret Service agent to get himself close to the ceremony to set off whatever plan he and his associate are up to.” Skye connected all the USSS-related documentations she found on the Ackland smartphone and the Consulate General building plans to easily figure out the next moves of the would-be terrorists.

“We’ve gotta find a way to stop them before they launch the attack, Ava.”

“Well, we’ve got Ackland’s fake credentials now, so maybe we can throw a wrench in their plans…?” Leo finally spoke up again.

Skye quickly raised a brow at Leo’s suggestions. “What are you getting at, Stein?”

“Maybe if we get you dressed up as a Secret Service guy or something and we find a way to intercept Ackman before he can do his thing…” Leo casually proposed a plan to Skye and Ava, as if he were a part of their crime fighting endeavours.

“I’ve got a bunch of fake wigs and spare suits back at my apartment that you can use…”

If there was any part of the whole superhero deal that Skye wasn’t exactly a big fan of, it was having to wear disguises to conceal her identity on missions. Not because she found anything wrong with wearing different clothes than her own, but rather because that sort of espionage was not what she’d deem her “strong suit”. Even so, Skye understood that it was pretty much an inevitable part of what she was doing whenever the time came for disguises.

“If it’ll help with what we’re trying to do and make you happy…” Skye conceded, which seemed to lift Leo’s mood even higher.

“W-w-wait… does this mean I can be like the guy giving you all info and stuff through a computer like in the movies?” Leo’s excitement for possibly being the “mission control” for Skye and Ava’s plan tomorrow was now uncontained.

Skye, arms crossed with a sly smirk on her face, had a simple reply for Leo and his proposal to help. “Sure, knock yourself out… not literally, though.”

Leo’s reaction gradually bubbled into unbridled excitement. “Oh my god! oh my god! Thank you! Thank you… I promise I won’t let you or Ava down…”

Still ecstatic from being allowed a chance to help Toronto’s very own superhero with her latest “mission”, Leo gave Skye an incredibly awkward hug of gratitude for about half-a-second before a judging stare from her got him to stop. Leo quickly backed away before heading towards the “Box of Crap” on the dining table.

“Oh… someone’s been prepared for all of this,” Skye looked on while chuckling faintly at Leo pulling out more gadgets from his Box of Crap — in particular, two small grey-and-black headsets that appeared to be have been manufactured several years ago.

“Ava, if you don’t mind letting me borrow your laptop?” Leo asked quietly.

Without much fuss, Ava agreed to let Leo use her Macbook for whatever it was he was planning with the two earpieces he unearthed from the Box of Crap. Leo opened up Safari to quickly search up “bluetooth uplink network” on Google. He clicked on the first link, ostensibly for a program called “Bluewire”, which boasted itself as a program to allow for communication between multiple Bluetooth headsets.

“Basically, this Bluewire thing will let me talk to you guys from Ava’s laptop once we get everything set up,” Leo explained very succinctly while the program began to install on the Macbook.

“It’ll even let you and Ava talk with one another on the fly, too…”

Leo passed the two headsets to Skye and Ava, allowing for the two to try them on. They put the headsets in their ears right as the installation process for Bluewire on Ava’s laptop reached its completion. The apparently-tech-savvy youth began to work his “magic” by getting everything set up on the actual Bluewire program itself. Leo created a main hub so that he could communicate with both Skye and Ava.

Upon seeing the name for the hub that Leo created, Skye palmed her face and shook her head in a rather displeased manner. “….really, Leo? ‘Blue Skye’? That’s what you were able to come up with?”

Despite the unimpressed stare from the namesake of his newly-created Bluewire hub, Leo simply just shrugged in embarrassment and carried on with getting the “Blue Skye” network ready.

“Just press the button on the headsets for when you want to talk with one another. It’s that simple.” Leo felt like a bit of an expert in explaining to Skye and Ava about their Bluetooth headsets and how they worked — even if it seemed like the most basic knowledge anyone would probably know about using such technology.

“…wait, where are you going?” Ava asked while watching Skye casually get off her chair and walk out of the apartment without explanation.

It didn’t even take five seconds after Skye walked out of the apartment for Ava and Leo to find out exactly why she did that, as the voice of the twenty year-old was heard loud and clear over both Ava’s headphone and on the Bluewire programmed installed on the Macbook.

“Hey, is this Pizza Pizza by any chance?” Skye said jokingly to test out the headsets’ communication capabilities. “I’d like to make an order for a large Hawaiian pizza with all the toppings…”

“Yes! It actually works!” Leo turned to Ava with a smile, beyond happy that his hard work in getting the Bluewire communication link successfully set up. “Aren’t I awesome, Ava?”

Ava stifled a friendly laugh at Leo’s enthusiastic self-congratulation for his efforts.

“You probably are, Stein…” Skye talked again through her headpiece.  “But, I really wasn’t kidding about the pizza.”

Leo scrambled frantically through his words, offering up a simple “okay” in response to Skye’s desire for a pizza.

“Oh, and I almost forgot,” Skye had one final thing to say to Leo before signing off on her headset. “You’re paying for everyone’s pizza.”

Ava chuckled yet again while Leo groaned mildly at having to apparently pick up the tab for the pizza dinner.

—

_**Toronto Police Headquarters – 6:30 pm** _

The petty crook only known as “Scratch” — now completely dressed in the attire of the Toronto Police officer he was impersonating — stood outside the jail cell he was held in, with his hulking ally Dubs right by his side. In their place was a man completely dressed up in the psuedo-tactical gear that Scratch was formerly wearing. Said man — police Constable Danny Weiss — had been knocked unconscious by both Scratch and Dubs in a discreet manner to allow for the next part of their plan to continue without interference.

“Now that we’ve gotten ourselves outta jail, the hell are we supposed to do now?” Dubs, still irritated about being imprisoned, asked his partner in crime.

Scratch, adjusting his stolen uniform and checking to see if there were any surveillance cameras present, answered back. “The guy who hired us for this job said he’d contact us as soon as he could.”

“I know you’re still mad that y’couldn’t kill that Emery chick when she was all weak and crap, but we’ll get our shot at her again.”

“When the hell is that guy even contacting us anyway?” Dubs remained impatient while getting fitted for handcuffs by Scratch to continue their attempted escape.

The frustrated queries of the formerly-jailed thug seemed to be answered when Scratch’s cellphone began to ring repeatedly, forcing the disguised crook to answer it before the sustained noise from the ringtone alerted any Toronto Police staff to their plans.

“Mr. Scratch…” A digitally-distorted voice on the other line started to talk. “I trust that you and your lumbering oaf of a partner have gotten yourselves out of the trouble you got yourselves into when Skye Emery locked you both up?”

Scratch nodded while activating the holographic mask he was wearing to transform his face into Constable Danny Weiss’s once again. “Yes, sir. We’re just waiting on what else we need to do.”

“Whatever daring escape you and Mr. Weston might have plan can wait,” the anonymous voice kept on talking. “I’ve already arranged for you two to be escorted by some loyal federal agents working for us in about ten minutes.”

“They will have you escorted to the original location where you two were supposed to meet to discuss our plans for the Evergreen presentation tomorrow.”

Dubs didn’t seem that too impressed by the authority that their mysterious benefactor held over them. “Y’know what? I just don’t give a shit about you or your fucking plans! I had that superhero bitch ready to be killed and I’m not going along with any of your plans until I get a shot at her aga— YEAAAARGH!!!!”

Feeling an unusual pain emanating from the back of his neck, Dubs held his neck in some serious anguish, while Scratch just looked on.

“I hope that you understand that agreeing to work for the Conglomerate has both benefits… and consequences should you fail to live up to your bargain.” The voice had a grim warning for his two hired guns. “You were both outfitted with surveillance chips that keep track of your whereabouts the moment you were recruited.”

“Failure to comply with the Conglomerate has its price, as your giant friend can attest to you, Mr. Scratch. Do we have an understanding?”

Scratch’s answer was unusually humble, but to the point. “Yes, sir.”

“GNNNNGHG…… yeah, me… too… owwwww!” Dubs tried to pledge allegiance through the agonizing pain of the surveillance chip, finally getting some relief after doing so.

“Good.” The Conglomerate’s contact said. “Remain at the Toronto Police station for now. We will have everything dealt with in short order.”


End file.
